Courage, dear heart
by Sparklefairygirl
Summary: Frisk couldn't do it again. Not alone. Not this time. They make a decision on the surface, and boy it's a game changer. I wrote this fic because I wanted to give Frisk a guardian to protect them cause they're like ten. (I got this idea from a different fic)
1. Chapter 1

AHA I'm excited to share this fic with y'all! The romance is slow burn, fair warning. Without further ado:

I gained official custody of Frisk exactly a year ago today. There were multiple reasons, first and foremost being that I loved that kid. I would do anything for them. We met three years ago, during the incident we title: Freak Accident or Fate? That's another, rather lengthy story involving a stick of bubble gum, an umbrella, and a very annoying dog. Since that day, I've gotten to know the kid better and better, and grown to love them. They're so genuine and kind. They told me everything, including the tale of their parents and how both never wanted them, and were going to send them into the foster system when they got their divorce. But I put my foot down. Frisk wasn't going to some random stranger who would try to label them and fit them in some box or stereotype. So I adopted them. Are they my sibling? Child? It doesn't matter,

as long as I am their guardian.

*Knowing that Allie will always be there for you, it fills you with determination.*

"Frisk! Slow down for the love of e-everything!"

I was panting heavily and they just bounced back down the trail to where I was stooped over, hands on my poor aching knees. I was only 23. This shouldn't be happening so early in life.

Frisk seemed to read my mind.

"It's the mountain air. Thinner then home."

I nodded at the kid's wisdom.

"Then have mercy, good soul, on these poor lungs."

They giggled, but slowed to my pace.

"So why camping up here? Mt. Ebbot?"

They shrugged, looking at the peak above us.

"Curious, I guess."

"Me too."

I hefted my heavy bag, and shot them a mischievous glance.

"You know what they say about this mountain?"

Frisk looked sideways at me, a question written on their face.

"Monsters. They live just under the surface, trapped by a magic spell, and only break free to. catch. naughty. children." I leaped at them, catching them by suprise. I tickled them, and they screamed-laughed a surrender.

"Stop! Allie, have mercy! I promise to be good!"

I laughed and released Frisk, who was out of breath with a huge grin on their face.

I gestured up the track.

"Well, come on. Mountain isn't going to climb itself."

After a few minutes in comfortable silence, Frisk asked,

"Allie, do you believe the stories? About the monsters?"

I pondered the question. It would be ignorant to dismiss the question as childish nonsense, but also stupid to confirm it, as we have no proof, or records or anything. Just an old folktale.

Frisk was still looking at me, head cocked to one side.

"All lies and stories have a kernel of truth. It's what makes it believable."

"That doesn't answer my question."

I sighed and ran a hand through my long hair.

"Honestly, I don't know. People couldn't imagine what was going on in chemical reactions, or things too small to see, like the bacteria in your gut," I poked them in their stomach. Frisk giggled. ",before it was discovered and proven. So anythings possible." I gave her a small grin, and a wink.

"All that science. That's my degree finally coming into play."

They smiled back.

"Well Ms. Masters in Organic Chemistry, let's see if you can science your way to the top of this mountain."

And Frisk set off, determination in every line of their body. They were one sassy ten year old when they wanted to be.

They walked ahead of me, exploring the track, sometimes pausing to look around or smell a flower. They looked so content and happy. I wanted this moment to last a lifetime. Just the two of us, free from the baggage of our pasts, and together, on our anniversary of Adoption Day. But life is a funny thing, delighting in turning people's worlds upside down.

"Allie! Look at this!"

Frisk had darted around a bend moments ago, just in front of me. I smiled and called,

"What is it?"

Usually the phrase, "look at this.", indicated a pretty flower or lovely bird.

"I-I don't know!" Their voice was too high, too scared.

I frowned, alarm bells now clanging in my head. I hurried around the bend to find Frisk staring into the abyss of a wide hole.

"Frisk! Get away from the edge!" I rushed forward, dropping my heavy camping pack on the ground as I did. But as they moved to turn around, a thick vine caught their ankle. They teetered, a look of terror on their face.

Then they fell.

I screamed. My mind went into blurred state where my actions were purely survivalistic instinct. I remember lunging forward, grabbing Frisk too late to save them, and death waiting patiently for the our unavoidable impact with the ground.

Air whistled past us as we dropped, down, down, down.

*Knowing that Allie would always try to rescue you fills you with determination*

I was dead. I had to be. But does death hurt this much? I hadn't thought it would. I pried my eyelids apart, groaning. Ow..my wrist could have been on fire, and the pain wouldn't have been worse. Suddenly a horrifying thought struck me.

I scrambled up, looking desperatly around the bed of golden flowers that probably saved my life.

"Frisk! Frisk!"

My voice cracked in terror. I spotted them now, lying among the flowers, not moving.

"Oh god!"

My shaking hand touched their small wrist, searching for a pulse. It was feint but there, like the fluttering of butterfly wings.

"Oh thank the heavens!"

I had to get them out of here. Get them help.

I gathered their small form in my arms, much the same way I would when they would fall asleep on the couch and I moved them to their bed. I winced in pain at my wrist, but didn't drop Frisk. I couldn't. I had to keep them close. I limped patheticly, past a huge door. A huge door? People lived down here! Maybe help wasn't far away? Or...? I shook my head. This was no time for negative thoughts.

"Howdy!"

I started, looking wildly around, eyes landing on a flower. with a face. and voice.

"I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower."

In spite of myself, I raised an eyebrow, resisting the urge to say, "no! really?". I just said,

"Hey, um, Flowey? I need some help here with my sibling. They need medical attention."

But, the flower's overly friendly face melted into a grotesque, evil smile.

It laughed in my face.

"Help? d!"

Okay creepy killer weed with a thirst for human blood. I have. to. be. dreaming.

I felt a tug on my chest, and an orange, cartoonesk heart appeared, hovering just in front of my chest. A deep red heart did the same for the comatose Frisk. Defiantly dreaming.

It summoned a spinning white circle around Frisk and I, coming closer and closer. I'm sure it meant to kill us, but didn't get that far because just then a fire ball appeared, knocking it out of sight. Dreaming. For sure.

"What a dreadful creature, torturing two poor humans in need of assistance. I am Toriel, Care taker of the Ruins."

A huge, furry monster with a long purple robe and a kind face stood before us. My savior.

"Thank you." I choked out.

Monsters. Underground. The stories.

"The Ruins are full of puzzles, but..." She seemed to consider Frisk.

"Your child seems in dire need of help. I shall postpone the tuToriel," she gave a self satisfied smile, "and take you directly home."

I stood flabbergasted. A pun loving monster? I shook my head rapidly, trying to clear my head.

I said stupidly,

"Am I dreaming?"

The goat like monster shook her head, smile fading.

"I'm sorry, young one. I forgot myself. You must be rather shellshocked. Let me take the child." She saw my look, and noted the protective nature of my posture. "It is fine if you do not wish me too, but I want to help." This monster had saved me, and her face seemed so kind. She had even cracked a pun. Besides, I was out of options. I would collapse of exhaustion if I tried to carry Frisk anymore. I limped forward and Toriel took the small form of Frisk. I was their guardian. And they were not leaving my sight.

"Lead the way."

*Toriel's offer of help. It fills you with determination.*

3 weeks later

Frisk made an excellent point. Why would we ever want to leave? I had everything, everything being food, drink, friends and Frisk. The topic came up one night, as we sat around the table, eating pie.

"So you do not wish to leave the Ruins?"

Frisk just giggled.

"Why would we, mom?"

My heart sang when they called Toriel that. I could have never been Frisk's mom. I was their best friend. Their sibling. Their companion. Their guardian (legally and figuratively). Not their Mother. Toriel was what I couldn't be for Frisk. That didn't make me jealous at all because Toriel was my mom now too. Toriel was everything my biological mother wasn't.

(I'm sappy. I don't pretend not to be.)

Frisk and I had quickly learned about humanity's wrongs against monsters, the fight for freedom and the desire for humans souls to shatter the barrier. We also learned about Fights, in a more practical manner, with a mock fight with a dummy. But the Froggits were cuties and the Moldsmols were just plain flirty. The monsters were easily befriended.

Everyone adored Frisk. Their determination and kindness drew people to them. Like they had drawn me in, all those years ago. Toriel told us sadly about the other six humans who had wanted to leave. And their soul colors.

That night after Frisk had gone to bed, Toriel and I were having a cup of tea by the fire.

"Allison." The furry monster leaned forward intently and continued gravely.

"You know how I told you about human's soul colors?"

I nodded,

"Mine is bravery..."

Toriel pressed forward.

"Asogre needs Frisks soul to break the barrier, not yours. They have already collected an orange soul thus far."

"W-what?"

"They need all seven colors."

I couldn't meet Toriels eyes. I muttered,

"Not Frisk..."

She studied me intently.

"If it came down to it, you were going to sacrifice your own soul."

She didn't ask. she stated it.

I nodded.

I clenched my teeth together, anger washing over me.

"They're not getting Frisks soul. What ever happens. I will die before a hair on their head is touched."

"I know." Toriel said quietly.

We sat there together for another quarter hour, staring into the flames, each with our own thoughts.

My soul told everyone around me that I was brave. It told me that I could do it. Bravery is, after all, not discounting fear, but recognizing that fear shouldn't stop you from your goal. And my goal was keeping Frisk alive.

*Allie's bravery fills you with determination*

Sorry for the language but those damn gossiping spiders! I found out later that the "anonymous tip" that had given away our safe home of 5 months was actually a spider telegram that made its way from the Ruins to Hotland and the rumor of humans living in the Ruins circulated there until it hit the attentive ears of the Dog Squad and it was all over. Toriel woke me hurriedly and thrust a backpack into one hand and a heavy, long coat into the other.

"Hurry my children. A raid will be taking place on our home and you must not be here!" A sleepy Frisk was given a similar coat. They said slowly,

"Mom...did you make these for us?"

"Yes my child. There were going to be Chistmas presents but under the circumstances..."

She stood there looking very small and helpless even for all her magic and height.

She trailed off, and sniffed loudly. Frisk, with tears on their face, embraced Toriel. I joined them, my own cheeks wet.

She gave a small laugh devoid of her usual humor.

"Is it not funny how life works? The only humans who wished to stay...and Asgore found you anyway."

We walked in silence to the door.

"The raid will be here very soon. You must be far away from here when it happens. Find my friend from the other side."

"How will we know who it is?"

"He never told me his name, but his brother is called Papyrus."

We stood another couple of seconds in dead misery. Then Frisk ran forward and threw her arms around Toriel on last time.

"Goodbye Mom."

"Goodbye my child."

But she looked up and met my eyes, and I nodded. We both knew what I had to do ahead of us. Frisk's soul must be protected at all costs.

"Mom, call us okay?"

I also embraced her. One last time. Then she released us and said briskly,

"Go! they must not be able to catch your fresh scent."

I nodded, and scooped Frisk up in my arms.

"Just like old times bud."

They giggled.

And we left home. Probably never to return.

*A feeling of sadness hangs over you, but you stay determined*


	2. Chapter 2

I was scared, not gunna lie. But I tried not to show it, for Frisk's sake. I felt small and powerless. And cold. Defiantly cold. But the coats Mom had given us were unbelievably warm. I suspected a combination of healing and heating magic.

But that didn't stop my shoes from soaking.

The snow was up to my ankles and freezing, as snow is. A long forest path stretched straight in front of us. The cavern was very high ceilinged compared to the Ruins.

"Hey Frisk can you be a pal and let my give you a piggy back ride? My arms are already starting to ache."

They smiled and moved for me.

"Thanks."

From their perch on my back they saw something glinting in the meager light.

"What's that?"

We investigated what turned out to be a camera. In the bush.

"Well kid...smile and wave! You're on TV." They giggled and grinned at the camera.

"Hello to the other side!"

While they were occupied with that, I took stock of the situation. Long forest road to an unknown town with unknown people with unknown magic who wanted us dead. Oh, and an unknown friend of Mom's. Wonderful.

"Come on Frisk. We've got a long road in front of us."

As I bent to let them hop on my back again, I felt a pair of eyes on us. The feeling vanished just as soon as I felt it, leaving me uneasy, and twitchy.

I took a step. Trees to our left. Another step. Trees to our right. There's nothing sinister about trees, right? Fifty more steps.

"Look at that stick, Allie! You could use it as a weapon!"

I laughed,

"If I could pick it up! Its massive! it's almost as thick as you."

They giggled. A happy sound. Totally out of place in the setting.

We hadn't gone ten paces past the branch when we heard a terrible "Crack!"

I whipped around, probably throwing Frisk off balance.

The branch was in pieces. As if it was nothing.

"Allie..."

"Keep an eye out behind us please, Frisk. It's going to be okay." I was trying and failing to convince myself just as much as them.

"There's something following us!" They squeaked.

"It's fine, we're fine." I muttered desperately.

"Allie!"

I whipped around, but there was no one.

"I swear there was just a second ago!"

"I believe you." I raised my voice, shouting at the unknown. God, how I hated the unknown.

"You just like seeing us squirm, don't you!"

"Shh!" Frisk pleaded with me to be quiet, so I shut up, for them. I was annoyed now. If something was going to happen, just do it. Don't toy around with it. Needless to say, I never let Frisk play with their food.

I spotted a narrow bridge across a small chasm.

"I don't trust that to hold both of us up. Hop on down." They jumped off my back and were about to run across when a deep voice cut through the silence of the forest.

"Humans. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around a shake my hand." I turned ever so slowly, shielding Frisk with my body. The dark figure held out an out stretched left hand. I shook his hand. A loud, rude, farting noise echoed through the woods. I stood dumbfounded at the figure still in the shadows. Shocked, confused and amused. Frisk's laugh broke the ice and soon all three of us were laughing. Peels of mirth echoed up and down the path.

"the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. that's the best laugh I've had in weeks."

the figure now stepped out to were we could see him. He was a skeleton. A walking, talking skeleton.

"names sans. sans the skeleton."

Again, I resisted a sarcastic reply. Instead I said,

"I'm Allison. You can call me Allie."

"And I'm Frisk!"

They popped out from behind me and shook Sans' hand. After he had removed the whoopee cushion. He looked hard at them and seemed to glare. But Frisk looked unperturbed.

"Um, Mr. Sans-"

He interrupted me to say,

"just sans."

"well then, just sans-" I got a chuckle out of him, "where is Snowdin Town?"

He narrowed his eye sockets at me, searching my face, much the same way he had to Frisk a couple of seconds ago. I wondered if monsters could see souls even if they were still in ones body.

"Up the path that way," he gestured vaguely to the right. Wow, not very helpful. Oh well it's not like we couldn't read a sign later on.

Before I could motion for Frisk to continue across the bridge, he continued,

"you're the humans everyone is talking about."

I turned sharply around, Frisk now shielded behind me again.

"listen bud. I don't want to hurt you. but you have to watch out for my brother. and the dog regiment."

I still couldn't trust him.

"I think that's him coming down the path there."

"Who?"

I said sharply, turning to look.

"my bro. Papyrus."

"Papyrus..."

I said with my eyes widening.

"Listen Sans, Toriel told me-"

He cut me off a second time, which by the way is really annoying. I was about to tell him that when he said,

"you two are going to have to hide."

"But-!"

"hide now. talk later."

He motioned for us to follow him across the bridge to a sentry station.

"quick behind my station there."

No sooner had we taken cover did the fabled Papyrus burst into the clearing.

He bellowed across the clearing to where Sans was standing, unperturbed, with hands shoved into his coat pockets.

"SANS! YOU LAZYBONES, HAVE YOU CAPTURED THE HUMANS?"

My heart jerked in my chest, and I waited for Sans to casually point us out, cowering behind this sentery station.

"haven't seen 'em pap."

"THATS PROBABLY BECAUSE YOU HAVENT RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES IN WEEKS. WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?"

"ice see you've got a problem with me just chilling here. snow problem though."

"SANS!"

"you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT. WELL GET TO WORK ON YOUR PUZZLES. I MUST CATCH THOSE HUMANS AND THEN UNDYNE WILL SEE MY GREATNESS AND MAKE ME PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD."

Then he was gone, leaving in a flurry of snow, cackling, "nyheheh".

"he's gone, you two can come out now."

Frisk popped out and I followed, a bit more cautious, expecting him to return at any moment.

"He seemed pretty annoyed with you, considering all the yelling he did."

Sans just laughed.

"nah, pap is just naturally that loud. he's actually a cool guy once you get past the loudness."

"and the burning desire to see us dead..."

I muttered. I didn't mean for Sans to hear me, but he replied,

"Papyrus couldn't hurt a fly, even if he wanted to. his heart just isn't in it. he's not dangerous."

I got the feeling he was protecting Papyrus, and I could respect that, even if he was stretching the truth.

I'm, after all, protecting Frisk with my every move.

Speaking of the devil, where did they run off to.

I looked around but they weren't in sight.

Sans read my expression and said,

"She ran up ahead."

"They."

I corrected automatically.

"They ran ahead." Before I could leave he said,

"Listen, my bro's been kinda down lately and has never seen a human before. Like I said he's harmless and his puzzles are just as. It would really cheer him up to see one."

I opened my mouth to try to tell him I had no intentions of doing any kind of puzzles, and that I was complete crap at them, but Sans cut me off. again. for the third time.

"Thanks, I'll be up ahead. Better find your kid."

Then he vanished with a small, "pop".

I stood rooted on the spot for a couple of seconds before I realized I hadn't asked him about Toriel. I could deal with that later. For now, Frisk was all that mattered.

"Frisk!"

They were standing at a crossroads, reading a sign beside a huge box.

"Look Allie! We can put some extra food in here and get it in another box up the road! It's a magic box!"

They giggled happily as I agreed that was pretty cool.

"What's up there?"

I pointed north, to where a river was visible.

"A pick up line."

"Oka-wait what?"

They took my hand and drug me to the bank of the rushing water. A lone fishing pole lay there. I reeled it in, Frisk looking on in amusement the whole time.

A soggy picture of a fish monster winking at the camera and an equally soggy note ("Call me!") were attached to the end.

"Oh! A pick up line..."

We both giggled at the pun before heading back, and onto the next path.

Sans and Papyrus were there.

When the latter spotted us, he visibly lit up.

"SANS OH MY GOD ARE THOSE THE HUMANS?!"

"I think that's a rock."

"OH..."

I glanced behind us to see an ordinary rock in the middle of the path. Papyrus' gaze was fixed on it. I glanced at Sans who winked mischievously.

"what's in front of the rock?"

"OH MY GOD ARE THOSE THE HUMANS?"

"yes."

"OH MY GOD."

Then he cleared his throat and, if possible, addressed us even louder than before.

"HUMANS! YOU WILL NOT PASS THIS AREA, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL STOP YOU WITH MY MAGNIFICENT PUZZLES. NYHEHE!"

Then he charged down the path, presumably to check his puzzles and traps.

Sans sauntered after him, but not before reassuring the two of us,

"don't worry I'll keep an eye socket out for ya."

Then we were alone.

"wow."

I muttered.

Frisk just beamed at me.

"I like him."

"Which one?"

"both!"

*Sans and Papyrus help you stay determined*


	3. Chapter 3

Lesser Dog, Greater Dog, Doggo, The Dogi. The whole dog squad. Dog brigade. Dog posse. Dog herd. We'd been attacked by every single one. And lived. Okay when I say "we" I mean that I entered the fights, and took a beating, and talked the monsters out of killing me while Frisk healed my sorry butt with monster food. They helped me figure out what to say or do to the monsters to stop them from attacking.

But it was all okay. I did the puzzles, and kept Frisk out of trouble so I was doing my job well.

I was liking Papyrus more and more as he revealed that he was actually a cinnamon roll, just like Frisk. He had dreams of being in the Royal Guard and desperately wanted to capture a human, but I had a feeling I could make friends with him. I mean, he liked spaghetti. It's impastable to hate someone who likes spaghetti. Oh god. Sans' puns were finally getting to me.

As we reached Snowdin Town, (oh my word the puns), the prospect of actually fighting Papyrus loomed over me. We learned from Toriel all about Snowdin Forest, Waterfall, and Hotland. And we had to get into Waterfall to get into Hotland to get into the CORE to get into the Kings Castle to get to the surface. Boy, we had a long way to go.

There was no way around it.

I stocked up on healing items and even purchased a defensive item for Frisk (a bandana with a cartoon pair of biceps decorating it. It certainly wasn't lacking in character.) I was so prepared for an actual fight that the sudden snow storm took me by suprise.

"Allie, I'm scared. and cold."

I really didn't want to say "me too" but I was defiantly thinking it.

"Good thing was have Mom's coats."

We were busy trying to keep warm that we didn't notice the dark figure of, you guessed it, Papyrus.

"HUMANS. ALLOW TO TO TELL YOU OF SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS."

I couldn't pay attention to his speech. It was too cold and dark and off putting.

Before I knew it I felt that by now familiar tug of my soul coming out of my chest into a Fight.

"Um Papyrus? Can we move to were its not so cold and snowy? I can't see two feet in front of me!"

"SORRY SMALL HUMAN! IT IS VERY SNOWY ISNT IT? LETS MOVE TO A MORE FAIR LOCATION. "

You had to give it to Papyrus. He was nothing if not fair.

Now I could see him perfectly as he tugged both of our souls into a Fight.

But I stepped in front of Frisk.

"I'll fight for both of us. Frisk's soul stays with Frisk."

"FINE WITH ME HUMAN AS LONG AS ONE WILL FIGHT."

I knelt next to Frisk and said,

"Go on. I can handle this one. I've been stocking up on healing items."

"Don't die Allie,"

they gave me a hug,

"and don't kill him."

I laughed.

"Wouldn't even dream of it, Frisk."

I ruffled their hair and told them that they should go find Sans. I suppose in retrospect that that was a rather vague suggestion, though I probably wouldn't have survived with out it.

*Knowing that when they get through the fight, Allie and Papyrus will be friends fills you with determination*

Sans wasn't on duty when the knocking on his door jerked him awake from his nap. So he had no reason for any urgency. It's not like he was usually urgent about anything. The TV static buzzed through the empty house. Papyrus must have gone out. The knocking continued, even louder.

"alright alright don't get your panties in a twist."

he grumbled as he shuffled to the door, grabbing his coat as he went.

He opened it to see the kid, Frisk, standing there alone. That was unusual. Sans mind was working a little slower from the remains of sleep. But as the kid panted,

"Allie, Papyrus, fight."

it all clicked.

"Come on kid." he said,

"I know a shortcut."

Sans breathed a sign of relief as he realized Allie had no intention of hurting his brother. Her normally orange soul was blue, and dragging sluggishly on the ground.

"Please stop Papyrus! I'm not going to fight you!"

Papyrus was obviously in distress, doubting that anymore would want to be friends more sincerely then Allie and Frisk.

"FACE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"

Sans had to contain a chuckle as the annoying dog stole it.

Frisk tugged at his sleeve,

"Is Allie going to be okay? She never sends me away when there's a fight...she told me to find you."

Sans raised an eyebrow at that. Did she?

"HERES A REALLY COOL REGULAR ATTACK INSTEAD."

Allie was very quick, but not quick enough. She had dodged the first three waves fine but a fourth hit her poor dragging blue soul and she screamed. It wasn't enough pain or loss of HP to put her out of it completely but it startled Frisk.

"Allie!" They yelled for her desperately.

But Sans put a hand on their shoulder.

"She's going to be fine."

As long as she gets back up. And she did. Dodged. Dodged Dodged. She jumped over and ducked under attack after attack. But the final jump. There was no way she could make it. But Sans watched as she squared her shoulders and ran at it, and leaped. It was a leap of faith.

Sans stretched out a hand and his left eye burned with magic. Allie lifted higher and higher until she cleared the last attack.

Frisk was in awe.

"Did you do that Sans?"

He chuckled, and ruffled their hair.

"Couldn't let her fall could I?"

Frisk hugged Sans and declared,

"Allie mutters about you all the time. About how you really like to interrupt her and never finish explanations. But I think she just has a crush she's not willing to admit."

Sans looked over to where Papyrus and Allie were talking, and laughed quietly.

"A crush ya think? Now I really want to be friends."

"Why?" Frisk asked, cocking their head to one side.

"So I can tease her about it."

They giggled. Sans thought for a second, choosing his next words carefully.

"Has Allie died yet?"

Frisk's eyes widened in shock.

"N-no...how do you know about that?"

Sans gave the kid a deadly serious look and whispered,

"I remember all of it. Why is she here?"

Frisks normally happy face melted into one of fear and sadness.

"I tried Sans, I really did! I lived those three days over and over, trying to get a happy ending, trying to get home to Allie, trying to set monster kind free." They sniffed loudly, looking over to were Allie and Paps were talking.

"I couldn't do it without her, Sans. I couldn't get past Asgore. It was too hard. Then, when I got to Toriels house with her I realized I didn't have to leave anymore. Allie is the only thing that made the surface appeal to me." Sans studied the small, ten year olds face.

They had been through so much. And Sans was willing to let it go, but he had one more question.

"How? How'd you get Allie here?"

"I called for her. On the surface we were hiking together when I fell down a hole. I did a True Reset and this time round," They paused to wipe at their nose. "She fell with me."

Allie and Papyrus were now walking into the village, presumably to go on the date Frisk normally has with him.

"Does she know about the Resets?"

"No."

Sans nodded. He put a skeletal hand on the kids shoulder and said,

"listen bud. i know it's been a lot. but promise me one thing. no more resets unless Allie actually dies."

Frisk nodded seriously.

"I promise, Sans"

And they walked back into town together.

*Sans' forgiveness helps you stay determined*


	4. Chapter 4

I'm saying it now, I'll probably be saying it forever, Papyrus is a precious cinnamon roll. He and I hung out after our battle and he gave me spaghetti (I really don't know how to describe that one) and a tour of the two skeleton brothers house. I found Frisk and Sans in Grillbys afterwards, eating fries. They both looked up as I approached them saying,

"Okay I'm jealous now."

Frisk just grinned their toothy grin and continued eating their fries, rather smugly I thought. Sans winked at me.

"Jealous of what? Frisk's date with me?"

I raised an eyebrow,

"No, your food."

I leaned across him to steal one of his fries. Greasy heaven.

"Good gosh! These are amazing!"

The fire elemental working the bar, hummed something at me and Sans translated.

"Grillby said, thank you"

I smiled at him and plopped down on the seat next to Frisk.

"Where to now, kid? Waterfall?"

"Why can't we stay here?"

"Staying in the same place for a long time is never an option anymore. Look where it got us with Mom..."

They looked at the floor and scuffed their boot toe.

"But Allie with Sans and Papyrus as friends we could have protection. Plus we smell like monsters with Mom's coats."

I wanted oh so desperately to tell her that we would stay and be happy but monsters could see souls while in fights, and I was fairly sure Sans could see souls even in our bodies. They would come for Frisk's soul sooner or later and I wanted to be gone from here before Snowdin Town was ever the wiser. Plus, thanks to the stupid spiders, the presence of two humans was known throughout the underground and two strangers like us fit the bill.

"Allie?"

Frisk was waving their hand in front of my face. I had zoned out, thinking. I had been staring without seeing right at Sans.

I flushed in embarrassment as he said,

"see something you like?"

"I spaced out," I snapped, embarrassment translating to annoyance, "I've got a lot on my mind." But looking at Sans jogged my memory of what Toriel had told me.

"Though I do have to tell you something. Toriel, the old lady who takes care of the Ruins and helped us, told us that she had a friend from Snowdin. Someone with a brother named Papyrus."

"Yeah I know her. We tell bad jokes through the door all the time." I smiled, thinking of all the bad puns and knock knock jokes she told us during our time there. Frisk piped up,

"Mom really did like knock knock jokes!"

I chuckled quietly, wishing nothing more than to be back in the cozy home in the Ruins with Toriel.

Sans saw my expression and said,

"Cheer up bud, ice you really need a pick-me-up. My puns to the rescue, snow problem of course."

I snorted in disbelief at how bad those puns were, but they did lift my mood anyway. He told me really very bad knock knock jokes until I finally laughed out loud.

"Thanks Sans."

He grinned.

"I am rather humerus."

I rolled my eyes to heaven, but had to smile anyway. Such was the way with bad jokes.

It helped settle the mood, but I knew Frisk was getting more and more attached to the town and especially the people. and we couldn't stay.

It was late now, I could tell because Frisk started yawning hugely, making me yawn in turn.

"Sans we really need to get going."

"probably a good idea. you humans get tired very easily." He made that statement rather loudly, and the bar was full of the Royal Guard and other citizens.

"Just going yelling out our identities for everyone to hear why don't you."

"okay."

He drew in a huge breath (skeletal lungs? what?). Was he kidding? Would he actually do it? Was he that stupid?

"These two are-!"

He was that stupid! I launched forward, pressing my hand on his mouth as the whole bar looked in our direction. Fortunately, this effectively put a stop to his shouting. Unfortunately, he was not prepared to have me flying forward, and we toppled backwards onto the floor together. If you were wondering, landing on top of a large skeleton at high speeds is not comfortable in any respect. My hand was still over his mouth, and I kept it there.

The whole bar laughed loudly, several woof whistling. Peels of mirth escaped Frisk's mouth, tears actually streaming out of their eyes. Red faced, I hissed at Sans,

"Not a word."

He chuckled behind my hand, and I felt his warm breath on my hand.

I huffed,"Ever heard of sarcasm?"

He gave me a smug look that seemed to say, "yes but I choose to ignore it." My face could have been a tomato, as I realized that I was currently completely on top of him, faces very close.

I quickly climbed off of him, looking for an escape.

"Come on Frisk. Time we went to the inn."

They were still laughing.

Sighing, I took their hand and led them out of the warm bar into the cold. I couldn't bring myself to turn around to say good bye to Sans. Mostly because I was still blushing like mad.

*Allie's crush on Sans fills you with determination*

When Frisk woke up eight hours later, I was ready for our trip into Waterfall. I had stocked up on food and had the ribbon tied around my ponytail, with the bandanna for Frisk layed out for them. We didn't need any weapons.

"We're really...leaving?"

"We have to Frisk. The only way we're ever going to be perfectly safe ever again is if we leave the Underground."

"What about Undyne?"

"We'll get past her." I reassured them with a fair amount of confidence.

I handed their coat over.

"Come on kid! I've heard Waterfall is beautiful!"

They hummed in agreement as we smiled and waved goodbye at the front desk worker.

It was a nice day outside, just like the day before. If there was an upside to living underground it would be the lack of bad weather. Want it warm? Hotland is your place. Cold? Snowdin. Easy. Each step into Waterfall was warmer and warmer until we shed our coats, stuffing them into our pack. That left me in my flannel, tank top, and jeans. I wondered vaguely if I could buy shorts anywhere. The first larger cavern in Waterfall had a sentry check point with, you guessed it, Sans the skeleton working it. I laced the sarcasm heavily into my next statement.

"Fancy seeing you here."

Sans just grinned cheekily at me and said,

"hoping to meet you on your way into Waterfall. didn't get to talk last night after the incident." I glared daggers at him while Frisk giggled, but I refused to bite.

Instead I tactfully changed the subject.

"What's that?"

I pointed at a large blue flower at random growing next to the sentry station. It reminded me of a sunflower from the surface, but blue. It was as tall as Frisk and only 4 inches shorter than me. But most monsters towered over it, including Sans. He raised an eyebrow (He's a skeleton? how?) at my lame attempt to divert his attention. I noticed and, unbidden, my face grew warm.

"it's an echo flower. repeats last thing it's heard over 'n over."

I touched a petal on the huge flower, and I heard Sans' voice whisper,

"repeats last thing it's heard over 'n over."

"That's actually pretty cool!"

Sans shrugged.

"you can find 'em all over the marsh. I don't like 'em very much."

"Why not?"

"don't like talkin' flowers. I think someone has been playin' a prank on my brother with one. he told me that he was friends with a talking flower that would help him and encourage him. strange huh?"

My eyes widened. A talking flower? That little bitch flower that tried to murder us...maybe? I shook myself mentally. I was over analyzing things.

"That's a mean prank to play. I'll keep an eye out."

Sans looked at me the same way he looked at me when we first met, and I wondered again if he was looking at my soul. I felt slightly violated, I don't know why because every time I got in a fight my soul was visible. But still, when it was in my chest, it was private.

"Done looking?"

It was his turn to flush, his cheeks turning faintly blue. He didn't say anything.

"Let's go Frisk. We've got a long road."

They nodded, and I led the way into Waterfall. I looked over my shoulder at Sans, but he was gone. Sneaky teleporter.

The next room was rather intimidating, I had to say. Rocks rushed down a large waterfall, threatening to push one off into the unknown. I made Frisk wait as I walked forward testing it out. But I was too slow and a rock sent me tumbling. But I didn't die because of the walkway below I fell on.

"Oof!"

The air exploded out of my lungs. Frisk ran to my side, but I waved them off.

"I'm fine. Just a little sore."

I noticed an echo flower at the end of the walk.

"Why don't you check what that says while little old lady Allie gets to her feet?"

And Frisk scampered off, ever curious.

I groaned and stood, checking where the rock had hit me in the left shoulder.

"That's gunna leave a bruise." I muttered.

"It says that it swore it saw something behind the rushing water."

"Up top or down here?"

They shrugged.

"Let's check both!" And they were off again. Oh to be ten again. I realized that Frisk's birthday must be coming up soon, but without a calendar or a phone (The one Mom gave me was positively ancient and my iPhone had broken in the fall) I couldn't tell time.

"It's another camera!"

Someone must be watching our every move. That wasn't a comforting thought. But who knows? Everything is a suprise in the Underground. Friendly stalkers?

"Let's check up there." I suggested.

Frisk wasn't much better at timing then me, but we managed.

It did look like a door frame when we got up close to the rushing water.

"Ready to get wet kiddo?"

"Born ready!"

I laughed as we plunged in together, and emerged, coughing and spluttering, into a small room.

"Look!"

A old tutu lay on the floor, long abandoned.

"It's really high defense!"

I grinned,

"Good. Put it on."

Frisk looked hesitantly at me.

"I know your trying to keep me safe Allie, but I'm not the one in Fights. You are. I don't want you dead anymore than you want me dead."

"I know." They looked like they were about to cry.

"Come here."

I knelt and hugged them tight.

As they snuggled close to me, just like they would when they were six, I felt Frisk shake in my grip. They were sobbing silently.

"What is it? You can tell me anything."

These were the words I spoke to them when they first told me about their parents.

Frisk sniffed and whispered,

"You're my family and I don't want to lose you. I couldn't do this without you."

"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Life let us have our moment. It was only five minutes, but it felt peaceful. It helped me focus on what was my ultimate goal. Frisk getting out of here alive.

"Let's get this tutu on you." I could see the protest about to come out of their mouth but I beat them to it.

"It's too small for me."

Frisk had to agree with me. It was obviously for a child. It fit them perfectly.

"Nice!"

Frisk untied the bandanna from around their head and offered it to me. Better than the ribbon.

I tied it around my head.

"Now let's get out of here and dodge some rocks."

Frisk laughed happily and led the way out of the small room. Nothing could keep them down.

If it was possible, the next room was even more intimidating than the rock fall. A patch of huge grass that swayed in the slight breeze lay in the path next to towering pillars. But it wasn't the room that intimidated me. It was the lone occupant. A towering monster in full armor. We crept silently through the grass, careful not to make too much noise when Papyrus walked into view. Thanks to his loud voice, we could hear him from were we crouched, motionless.

"UNDYNE!"

Perfect. The most terrifying monster I ever set eyes on was hell bent on our death.

-NO I DIDNT CAPTURE THE HUMANS! BUT YOU DONT-"

Undyne obviously cut him off with a negative reply.

"I UNDERSTAND. ILL DO EVERYTHING I CAN."

He couldn't really betray us! Not Paps...

Then he was gone, leaving only the menecing figure. Frisk tugged at my sleeve and I knew they were right. We had to get out of there. But as we moved through the grass, closer to Undyne, she heard us. Her head snapped around, and she summoned a glowing spear. We froze, hardly daring to breathe. She, hearing nothing else, walked back into the darkness. I felt an over whelmimg sense of dread. How could I have thought Undyne wouldn't be that much of a threat? I was dead. So dead. I looked at Frisk beside me, fear evident in their eyes. I clenched my teeth, setting my jaw. I may be on death row but Frisk wasn't going anywhere. But who's to say what would happen to them when I was 6 feet under? We would get through this. I bolstered my courage.

"Come on."

I whispered. They nodded and we moved through the grass. Before we could move to the next room, the small yellow monster who everyone just calls MK ran out of the grass and gushed,

"Yo! Did you see the way she was staring at you two! That...WAS AWESOME! I'm so jealous! Let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!" He ran ahead, not before tripping on his face. Poor thing didn't have arms to balance. He, of course, didn't realize that we were humans.

Frisk and I stood there for a second, looking at each other in mild shock. A lot had happened in the last few minutes. I searche Frisk's face for emotion, and finding no fear, only determination. I smiled at them.

"Let's freaking do this."

*Allie's bravery, as always, fills you with determination*


	5. Chapter 5

Puzzles oh god. Bridge seeds are pretty useful but four in a row? Why? Four is oddly specific...who was making these puzzles? Undyne? That was a funny thought.

The first one was easy, really more of a warm up. Frisk helped me grab the huge seeds and float them into a row. Like magic, the seeds instantly bloomed into huge, waxy flowers. I placed a tentative foot on the first one, expecting it to collapse under my weight, but the petals held firm and I crossed easily.

"They're so pretty!"

Frisk enthused. I had to agree with them on that one.

The next room looked a bit more complex.

"This one looks fun!"

Frisk clapped their hands together in anticipation, then took off, hundred miles an hour like always. They failed to notice a monster standing in their way, admiring his own biceps? When Frisk bumped into him, and apologized, the monster just winked at them and said,

"Was that a challenge to me, the strong and powerful Aaron?"

He was, how would you say, a mer-horse? A fish with the head of a horse, and huge rippiling biceps. He could crack Frisk's skull like a walnut if he wanted.

"No! Frisk wasn't challenging you! I was! Flexing contest, right here, right now! If you're not too chicken."

I stepped up, and pushed Frisk behind me. We entered a Fight and I flexed nonexistent guns.

"Oh! a flexing contest huh? I won't lose ;)"

With a very audible wink at the end.

In the end, Aaron flexed himself right out of the room, and the fight.

Frisk laughed their head off at the sight of me flexing for the monster.

As they wiped tears from their eyes (once again at my expense) they said,

"He was a seahorse! Get it?" They nudged me in the ribs with their elbow.

"A seahorse!"

That set them off again, laughing happily.

"May was well just call this place the Punderground."

I grumbled good naturedly.

"Now that you've laughed at me long enough, are we gunna do this puzzle?"

There were a couple of options for this one, we could go to the right to an unknown destination, we could try and read this sign floating in the middle of nowhere, or we could go up and to the left.

The Bridge seeds were in a pile in the middle of the room and when we both reached them, we stopped a moment to ponder the situation.

"Look there's a sign over there, on that wall."

Frisk ran over to it, and called over their shoulder,

"It says "Bell blossom will call Bridge seeds back if a mistake is made."

"Oh nice. We have as many tries as we need. Which way?"

Frisk pointed to the right.

"I wanna see what's over that way."

"Let's do it."

It turned out to be a small room, only a little larger than the tutu room, with a single bench and echo flower.

"I guess we have to go up then." I said, turning around.

I walked back over the flowers, saying,

"So how are we gunna do th-Frisk?"

They had stayed in the room. Sighing, I turned back.

I them on their hand and knees looking at something under the bench.

When they stood again, they had something in their hands.

"It's...a quiche?"

Frisk giggled like a mad man and touched a petal on the echo flower. A strange voice whispered,

"I just wasn't ready for the responsibility."

They burst into a fresh round of giggles.

"Not just a quiche. It's an abandoned quiche. Can we take it? It looks actually pretty good."

"No we can't take some random food we found in the middle of no where. Plus, we don't have room in our backpack."

They shrugged and put it down on the bench.

"Guess we weren't ready for the responsibility either."

I chuckled and shook my head. This was just Frisk. Always laughing or giggling, finding joy in the strange world around them. They keep me going and filled with courage.

"So up and to the left?"

"Yep."

Once we figured it out and got to the other side my phone rang loudly in the silence from inside my pack.

"We've got a call!"

Frisk said excitedly.

I dropped my pack to the ground, trying to locate the phone.

"Is it from Mom?"

They asked as soon as I got it out.

I checked the caller ID, shaking my head.

"Paps"

"Well, answer it!"

I accepted the call and instantly heard Papyrus' shout clearly through the speaker.

"HELLO ALLIE! THIS IS PAPYRUS!"

"How'd you even get this number Pap?"

"IT WAS EASY! I SIMPLY DIALED EVER NUMBER SEQUENCIALY TIL I GOT YOURS!"

Frisk had to smother a loud giggle with their hand.

"Nice! So what were you calling about?"

"I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT YOU WERE WEARING? MY FRIEND THOUGHT SHE SAW YOU WEARING A BANDANNA! ARE YOU WEARING A BANDANNA?"

I glanced at Frisk, who shrugged, still laughing quietly, with an expression of "i don't even know".

"Er-yes?"

"OKAY SO YOU ARE! GOT IT! WINK WINK."

The phone clicked and it was silent in the cavern room once again.

"Did he just wink over the phone?"

Frisk continued laughing into their hand.

"Well that was really really suspicious. Let's keep moving."

The next room was darker, with a plethora of echo flowers. They whispered of wishes, hope and horoscopes.

"Why would they have a telescope? The "stars" are just glowing rocks."

Frisk shrugged and pointed to the right, and then up.

"Dead ends."

"Another puzzle? Or did we make a seriously wrong turn?"

"Puzzle probably. I'll check the useless telescope."

I nodded. It made sense. There were no real places to go wrong in direction so far. Plus, monsters seemed to really like puzzles.

"It says "check wall"...what ever that means."

It was my turn to shrug.

"Let's check the walls then. I got the one up here."

I touched the smooth wall. It was slightly damp. I search it throughly, and eventually I pushed the right place on the wall. Part of the wall pushed back to reveal the path, continuing up.

"I got it Frisk!"

They sprinted up the meet me, and we walked on. The swamp obviously got very wet here because the path was now a raised walkway through a bunch of water sausages. Water hotdogs?

More signs covered the wall, telling the story of the Underground Mom had told us only 5 months ago. It felt like a life time. We reached the end of the walk with a moving platform to take us to the other side. It only fit one.

"Piggy back ride time"

After we had magically floated across, the platform returned leaving us no other choice but to continue. After Frisk had climbed down, I took their hand. I had the same uneasy knot in my stomach that I got the first time we met the fierce Undyne. It was too quiet. Too-

A single blue spear flying out of no where startled me out of my thoughts. It landed heavily at my feet, cutting into the pathway, obviously razor sharp.

"Frisk! Come on! Run!"

I dragged them on as even more spears came in our direction. Great. We zigzagged along the narrow path, our feet pounding in time with our racing hearts.

"Come on! Come on!" I shouted mindlessly. So many deadly flying spears. I yanked on Frisk's arm, pulling them out of range of three headed toward them. I could see hope in sight in the form of the tall grass that had saved our lives before. Almost there.

But I wasn't quick enough. I saw one descend on Frisk, perfectly centered on their chest. Not on my watch.

I threw myself forward, on top of my sibling. The spear struck me in my shoulder, tearing through muscle and tendons. I heard screaming.

Mine?

I blinked.

Frisk was fine.

I was aware of more spears, Frisk yelling my name, heaving me along the path. Everything was a blur of pain.

But Frisk was fine.

Sans was waiting for the two humans to come through, so he wasn't terribly surprised when one showed up.

But Frisk was alone, distressed and sobbing.

"Sans! Please, help me..."

"what happened kid?"

"Undyne almost got me with a spear but she flung herself in front of it. She didn't die but she won't move and she's covered in blood and-" They heaved a shuddering breath. "I'm scared Sans."

"show me."

Frisk led him back past the mouse hole to a grassy area. It was tall enough to hide both humans from view even standing.

"S-she's in here."

They found Allie lying in an alarmingly large pool of blood, unconcious and unmoving, like Frisk had described.

It was easy for Sans to pick the human up, and carry them clear of the grass. It occurred to him just how fragile humans were, being made of mostly water. Get 'em too cold and they freeze, too warm and they boil. Stick 'em with something pointy and they leak out. He hated to watch it.

Once he laid her on the clearer ground, he could get a better look at the problem. A wound in the right shoulder.

"She's not dead, but she won't even eat the monster food to heal," Frisk whispered, "it would easier if she was dead. I could just go back and save her."

Sans looked at Allie's pale face, his soul prickling with emotion.

"im glad she's alive. no more resets and we can still help her. the spear wound is physical and you humans can heal yourselves over time."

Frisk nodded slowly, taking it in.

"but we're gunna have to do this at my place. we can't spend much more time here with Undyne prowling."

Sans picked Allie up again, holding her small form close.

"this way. I know a shortcut."

I woke up in a lot of pain. My shoulder mostly. As I pried my heavy eyelids open, I heard Frisk's voice.

"Allie?"

Thank god they were safe. I had done my job.

I blinked slowly, taking in my surroundings. I was in Sans and Paps' house. Wait.

"What happened?" I asked thickly.

"You saved me from Undyne's spear, then passed out on me when we got into the tall grass. I got help."

I tried to sit up, but Frisk's little hand resting on my good shoulder stopped me.

"You're really gunna have to stay put for now."

"Who?"

"Who what? Oh, who did I get to help? Sans."

Great.

"You need to eat some monster food, just to help you heal faster."

But the pain made me feel nauseous.

"I don't think I can eat anything Frisk."

"Please! You have to!" They looked scared and small, and I was reminded that they were only ten. "Otherwise you'll slowly starve and not getting the nutrients you need you might get infected or you could even-"

"okay okay! I'll eat something, just for you."

They smiled, relieved.

I ended up eating defrosted spaghetti from Paps collection. It wasn't terrible, and did make my arm feel better.

Frisk hovered around the couch as I ate, and took my plate after.

"You know what would really help me feel better?"

"What? We've got lots of cinnamon bunnies or even a spider donut if you're into that or maybe even-"

"A hug."

Frisk stopped ticking healing items on their fingers and smiled slowly at me.

"Oh."

"Come here." I patted a spot on my left side were they could settle down comfortably.

They climbed onto the couch, settling down. I murmured,

"You did so good sweetheart. I'm alive and fine. We're safe. You need to rest." Frisk nodded slowly. They truly were exhausted, physically and mentally because they fell asleep almost instantly.

It reminded me of the days on the surface when we would fall asleep watching a movie together. Frisk's regular, deep breathing was a comforting noise, and soon I was drifting off as well.


	6. Chapter 6

I hadn't been asleep that long when a sixth sense told me Frisk and I weren't alone in the room anymore. My eyes snapped open to find someone standing over me. I let out a small scream, and struggled to stand. A hand covered my mouth to prevent anymore noise.

"geez bud. it's just me."

Sans. Once he removed his hand I said,

"Next time, don't creepily stand over me while I sleep."

He just chuckled and walked into the kitchen.

"did you get something to eat?"

"Yeah, Frisk got me some spaghetti."

I looked down at their still form beside me. They were always a heavy sleeper.

Sans walked back into the living room and plopped himself at the end of the couch. Frisk and I were relatively short, leaving plenty of room on the larger couch.

I met his gaze, which the same intense look he gave me last time I saw him.

"Are you looking at my soul?"

He nodded, looking away again.

"Can all monsters do that?"

He shook his head.

"most monsters just pull your soul out in a Fight if they wanna get a good look at it."

"Why don't you just do that?"

He laughed humorlessly.

"I'm not built for fighting. Look at my Stats."

It was my turn to shake my head.

"I don't see Stats like Frisk. They always just tell me."

"Well I've got 1 defense 1 attack and 1 HP."

"Holy crap. So you can look at souls without even entering a Fight?"

"yep. i can see souls more in depth than any other monster. it helps with the job."

"Being a sentry?"

"that's one of my many jobs. my big job is judge for souls."

He looked at my soul again, then looked at Frisk's.

"Judge? How do you get to determine people's true intentions of you don't even know them. Doesn't seem fair."

He shrugged and withdrew his gaze.

"like I said, I can can see much more than soul color. feelings, connections with other souls and even strong memories."

I blinked. He continued.

"like I know you want to get Frisk out of here, at any cost, even your own life. you would even have sacrificed your own soul if they didn't already have an orange one. you miss Toriel and think of her as your mother. a better mother than your biological mother could be-"

"Shut up. Now."

I hissed angrily at him.

"What gives you the right? You think you can just go looking at all my secrets, my past without my explicit permission."

How dare he! That was my soul and it defiantly wasn't on display for just anyone to go poking around.

"it's my job Allie," he retorted.

"what would happen if you were actually a terrible person, with murderous intentions? monster kind would be in danger, and i could've told everyone about you before you dusted a single monster."

I snorted derisively.

"That is entirely theoretical. Plus," I spat,

"you could have seen that in my actions, without having to search my soul."

He stood up and shrugged.

"like I said Allie. it's a job."

He walked to the door to his room. Then he turned back and winked at me.

"don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your crush on me."

My face smarted with heat as I yelled,

"If I could use both my shoulders right now I would strangle you! You've been warned!"

He just laughed.

That self satisfied, smug, annoying skeleton.

I couldn't sleep now, I was way to busy trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Sans could literally read souls. It was completely offputting. I sat up, wincing as my shoulder throbbed. Frisk was still asleep, so I left them there. They would be fine in Sans and Paps house alone, just for a little while.

I stood, head spinning slightly, and looked around for my bag. It had been tossed in the corner, and didn't look like anyone had touched it. As I picked it up, I noticed a dark red stain covering one side. Blood. My blood. I shuddered slightly but got my coat out without a problem. I couldn't get the sleeve on my right shoulder because my arm was in a rough sling. I shrugged mentally and just draped it over loosely. Hopefully the magic sown into the cloth would keep me warm.

I'd forgotten just how cold Snowdin was.

I walked past the friendly town and into the forest where I first faced Paps and his puzzles. Luckily, all of the puzzles remained completed and deactivated. But there was one path I never remembered taking. It was a southern path, heading for a cliff. As I walked down, I realized that there were eyes staring at me through holes in the wall. They blinked slowly. Then there was another pair, and another. More and more appeared as I continued. A voice cut through the silence.

"Howdy!"

Not this guy again.

"Give me one reason not to pick you up by the roots and chunk your smiling face over the cliff edge."

The flower just chuckled quietly, in a condescending manner.

"I'm just here to warn you Allie. I want to let you know that if you're going to change the game, so am I."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The flower grinned widely.

"So you don't even know. This is going to make this so much more interesting. Look forward to seeing you again."

It gave me a wink, and then was gone, disappearing into the earth.

I was shaking, not just from the bitter cold. That murdering flower had come here to give me a warning? About what? A game change?

I walked back to the house, unsteady, still shuddering. I only tripped once, but it still soaked me well and good. I pulled open the door and slipped inside. Paps and Frisk were at the kitchen table, eating spaghetti. Sans was still in his room, presumably.

"Where were you Allie?"

"FRISK WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU. SO WAS I."

I gave the two of them a small smile. The cozy atmosphere of the house was comforting.

"I just went for a short walk, to see Snowdin again."

"WHY ARE YOU WET THROUGH?"

"I tripped"

Frisk slipped off of the large seats of the table to get me a change of clothes.

As they handed them to me, I ruffled their hair affectionately.

"What would I do without you?"

They grinned at me, laughing,

"Probably freeze to death or worse."

"Probably. Where's the bathroom?"

They pointed down the hall, to the left of Paps room.

"Thanks."

Being warm again defiantly helped my mood. I toyed briefly with the idea of telling Frisk or Paps or even Sans about my encounter with Flowey the flower, but dismissed it. Couldn't worry them unnecessary like that. I'm pretty sure that's what the flower had in mind too. It would work a worm of doubt and fear into all of our minds so we couldn't reach our goal. Meaning that we were getting closer and closer. As soon as my arm was anywhere close to being healed, we were continuing on, Undyne or no Undyne.

I hung my wet clothes up to dry, and joined Frisk and Paps in the kitchen again.

"HOW IS YOUR SHOULDER HUMAN-SORRY, ALLIE?"

"It's actually pretty good, thanks to your spaghetti."

Paps beamed happily, then insisted he check my shoulder, and replace the sling.

I sat on one of the chairs, my feet barely scraping the floor. Paps was extremely gentle as he examined it, careful not to touch it with too much force.

"IT WILL BE GOOD AS NEW IN A DAY OR TWO IF YOU KEEP EATING REGULARLY AND DO NOT STRAIN IT TOO MUCH."

"Perfect! Thanks Paps."

"NOW SIT ON THE COUCH AND I WILL BRING YOU MY DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI."

I obediently plopped onto the couch, Frisk following.

The spaghetti wasn't good. But it wasn't bad. Either way it did its job. My shoulder didn't throb nearly as much, and, as I tested its ability to move, I found that it wasn't as stiff.

"That was amazing Paps!"

"I HAVE BEEN PERFECTING MY RECIPE WITH THE HELP OF UNDYNE. SHE LOVES TO COOK SPAGHETTI."

So Undyne does have a heart. With a soft spot for Pap. Then, of course, who doesn't?

*Allie's shoulder quickly healing gives you determination*


	7. Chapter 7

**SUP MY LOVELY PEOPLE! Thanks to a absolutely wonderful reviewer, I've made a descision and edited this chapter. It has to do with Sans/OC relationship. If you don't want to re read the chapter, basically Allie is still pissed at Sans because he totally invaded her privacy and made a crappy apology.**

"You ready?"

"Ready."

"You set?"

Frisk giggled,

"You bet!"

I hitched my new bag over my shoulder, and turned back to Paps. After just one night, my shoulder was back in working condition with only bruising leftover.

"GOODBYE HUMANS AND GOOD LUCK! MAYBE WE CAN HANG OUT TOGETHER WITH UNDYNE SOME TIME!"

"That'd be great Pap!"

He had to lean way down to give us hugs, being about two feet taller than both of us.

We walked into Waterfall and shed our heavy coats, a feeling a dèjá vu spreading. We continued on until we reached the first room.

The sentry station wasn't empty. I rolled my eyes to heaven. Not again.

"Fancy seeing you here."

"leaving already?"

"Shoulder healed. Mostly thanks to Paps spaghetti"

I shrugged just to prove I could.

Sans looked hard at me, narrowing his eye sockets. I knew he was looking at my soul again.

"Stop. I can't be around you twelve seconds without you invading my privacy like that!"

Poor Frisk was very confused, but I just huffed and grabbed their hand, dragging them into the next room.

"What was that about Allie?"

"Sans and I had a little argument about his abilities."

"What abilities?"

"He can look at our souls and see memories and feelings and-"

"Oh!" Frisk giggled, "so he knows about your crush on him."

"Why do both of you think that! He has been nothing but smug and rude!"

"He cheered you up in Grillby's when you were feeling down."

"Then proceeded to almost blow our cover."

"I'm sure he was joking."

"He does a lot of that."

I grumbled.

"Let's just put it this way. He was very insensitive about my memories and my past the last time we spoke."

"You didn't even give him a chance today. He could have been about to apologize."

I snorted in derision.

"I could tell he was looking at my soul again, without permission. If he was sorry he wouldn't have done it."

We had been walked while we talked, and quickly reached the point that the floating platform had taken us across.

"It's gone. How do we get to the other side now?"

A new voice piped up.

"You could take the ferry."

It startled Frisk and I and we turned suddenly.

"I can only take one at a time."

"Er-that'd be great." I lowered my voice so only Frisk could hear.

"I'll go first, and if there's any trouble, run back to Snowdin."

We walked over the the monster, who was just floating in the water, waiting.

"Step on my face and I'll take you across. I'll come back for the little one don't worry."

It was a strange experience, and I don't quite know how they did it, but we got across safely so that I was thankful for.

As we walked into the next room, past some crystallized cheese, I realized who was waiting for us.

"Now you're following us?"

Sans shrugged.

"just doing my job."

I raised an eyebrow at the implied meaning. Was he still trying to defend his actions.

"Easy excuse."

Frisk asked what his job was here.

"I let people use the telescope for a small fee. You can try it for free though, since I know you."

"Okay!"

Frisk bounded over and put their eye to the eyepiece.

"Hey! I can't see anything."

I scrunched my brow and looked at Sans. He winked the same way he did when he pranked Paps. Frisk looked back at me, and I saw it. The pink ink surrounding their eye.

I desperately tried to hold back my laugh, and Sans was doing the same.

"not satisfied? don't worry I'll give ya a full refund."

Then I couldn't help it. I burst into peals of laughter. Frisk looked at me utterly confused, and then back to Sans who was now chuckling.

"Oh! I get it."

They ran over to the marsh water to wash the ink off.

I was still smiling when I looked back at Sans. He had his hands shoved in his coat pockets, and was looking ever so slightly sheepish.

"listen, Allie. i made a promise to Toriel a long time ago to keep any human that comes through here safe. but I also am the judge of souls for King Asgore. it's two very different things to juggle-" I opened my mouth to say something, smile fading, but he shook his head, looking at me imploringly. "I looked at your souls the first time to search your intentions. I realized you didn't want to hurt anyone and you just want to get Frisk out of here alive. so why did I keep checking yours? because it intrigued and impressed me. the amount of courage you have in that little body of yours is almost impossible. I wanted a better look at it." He sighed and met my eyes.

But frustration still burned in my stomach, and I refused to let him off that easy. He had invaded my privacy, and just being curious didn't cut it.

"You have no right." I hissed fiercely,

"none. you can't expect me to forgive you just like that."

Sans narrowed his eye sockets and replied shortly,

"i was trying to apologize."

"you have to actually be sorry to do that."

He looked away, refusing to meet my angry gaze.

Then he was gone.

Freaking teleporter.

Frisk returned just them, ink free.

They studied my face closely and then said slowly.

"Sans." It wasn't a question. I nodded.

"How my ship can sail when you two are arguing?"

I quirked an eyebrow and they grinned, shrugging.

"Well anyway, we've gotta move on. "

We headed south, down over the blue marsh land, Frisk smirking, me scowling.

Frisk was still grinning a bit when we got to the first echo flower. I touched it lightly, and it whispered,

"I can't run any longer...someone...anyone..."

the voice faded ominously and the air around us seemed to grow colder. Frisk shuddered.

"It sounded human , didn't it?"

They asked quietly.

I nodded. It was a grim reminder that we weren't the first humans here. The six kids Toriel cared for. Their souls taken by Asgore.

We walked on in silence, until the next flower. It whispered,

"So do you have a wish?"

"One...but it's kind of stupid..."

Frisk stared at the flower and then looked at me.

"Sis, do you have a wish?" They put the emphasis on the word you.

I nodded.

"Just one..." I muttered.

"What is it?"

"That we'll finally be able to get out from under this mountain, together, and go on that camping trip."

Frisk laughed quietly.

"I had forgotten about that." Then they wrapped their small arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"If I hadn't wanted to go camping up there none of this would have happened." they mumbled into my shirt, "I'm...sorry."

But I shook my head,

"Frisk don't beat yourself up over one decision. That's not how life works." I stroked their hair, comforting them. "I promise that we will get out of this alive. Anyone wanting to hurt you will have to do it over my dead body."

Frisk looked up at me, and said in a small voice, "That's what I'm worried about, Allie. What happens when you can't protect us anymore, by yourself. We should get Sans to help us. He is actually pretty powerful."

I scrunched my eyebrows, trying to recall a time I had seen Sans use magic. Besides teleporting. and seeing souls.

"What makes you say that?"

"You know during Paps' battle, in his final attack with the giant bone that should have been impossible for you to clear?"

"Yeah, but..."

"That was Sans. I think he can manipulate gravity."

So now I owned Sans my life. But it showed he actually cared. I shook the thought from my head. If he had cared about me and my feelings at all, he wouldn't have pried into my personal life without permission. Another thought occurred to me.

"I don't think I could ask Sans for that sort of favor. He told me himself that he wasn't built for combat like that."

I frowned at Frisk.

"His Stats are ridiculously low. He only has one HP."

Their eyes widened in surprise.

"Holy cow."

"Wait how did you not know that? You can see Stats."

"Only in Fights."

I grimaced then mentally shrugged. We were doing fine even without someone else's help. We could get through this.

I grinned lopsidedly down at Frisk and said,

"Well we better get moving. I'm sure there's a puzzle up ahead that is in desperate need of solving."

They nodded, a small smile playing on their own lips.

The path we had walked onto was a messy, twisting, turning thing, that switched directions multiple times for no apparent reason. Finally we found the path that headed up and out of the bright blue marshy water. There was a sign.

"The power to take their souls. This was the power the humans feared."

We exchanged looks. I sighed,

"Humans are like that, aren't we? Fearing power we don't have or understand."

Frisk nodded solemnly, saying,

"Humans can be assholes."

I gasped and looked at them, affronted.

"Frisk! You know how I feel about you cursing." They looked down at their feet, mumbling an apology.

"...though, it is true."

I put my arm around their shoulder lightly, and they looked up at me.

"Let's make that our goal today. Show some people that all humans aren't assholes."

They giggled and we walked on in comfortable silence.

We continued to the next room, which was just water, on both sides. It looked rather deep. Just as we got pretty far from the door leading back, a large tentacle rose from the water.

"Allie..."

"Just keep going."

Nothing is what it seems around here, but we quickened our pace. Another tentacle, a pale yellow color, rose in front. The water to our left pitched and rolled, like something huge was rising from its depths. We turned to watch as something huge, and yellow came out of the water, but it wasn't sinister. In fact, I had to put a hand over my own mouth to keep from laughing at its appearance. It had round watery eyes and a gaping mouth that was pulled into a gigantic smile.

"Hi! I'm Onionsan! Onionsan y'hear!"

Frisk giggled as I replied, fighting to keep a straight face,

"Hi, I'm Allie and this is Frisk. We're just passing through."

I took Frisk's hand and we kept waking. I got the chatty vibe from looking at Onionsan and I really didn't want to get caught up in small talk. New goal: get out and away without coming across like an a-hole. (As you can tell I'm a very goal oriented person.) Onionsan swam along, following us, and talked of its woes and friends all moving to the city.

"But Undyne's gonna fix it, y'hear! She's gonna set us free!"

This sent chills up my spine, even coming from someone as friendly as Onionsan. Monster freedom ment Frisk's death.

"That's the end of the room! Hope you enjoy the rest of Waterfalllllllllllllll"

Onionsan went back under the water in such a ridiculous fashion, that Frisk and I couldn't help it. We practically collapsed into the next room, giggling hysterically. Frisk fell into a heap on the stone floor, crying with laughter.

After about thirty seconds of this, I got up, dusted myself off, and finally noticed the room's occupants. Or should I say, lone occupant. It turned to face us, and my soul was instantly drawn out. I entered a Fight.

It was never easy here, was it?

*Laughter helps you stay determined*

 **A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reading my story up to this point! I hope to not give up on this fic, or abandon it or anything like that, and I even have an ending all planned out so stick around! It's gonna be pretty interesting. (let's hope my writing skills can keep up) Anyways thank you, you beautiful souls, you brave wretched disasters.**

 **Much love,**

 **Sparklefairy.**


	8. Chapter 8

The monster I faced was no stranger than the rest of the monster we had met thus far. It had a shy countenance, facing away from me. I tried a friendly approach.

"Hello!"

It didn't say anything, just sang out one, sullen, off-key note. A slow magic attack came at me, in the form of a fourth note. I dodged it easily.

Frisk piped up,

"It's Shyren! Too shy to sing her deadly song. Try singing or humming."

Shyren looked more scared of me then I felt scared of her. I decided to sing a sad song, to encourage the poor monster. It was a love song.

"You only need the light when it's burning low," Shyren perked her head up, eyes trained on me.

"Only miss the sun when it starts to snow,"

Shyren hummed along. The white notes grew faster, but I still dodged with ease. Many many battles had given me lots of practice.

"Only know you love her when you let her go," I noticed out of the corner of eyes that monster where trickling in, drawn to the sound of my song, and Shyren humming along confidently,

"Only know you've been high when you're feeling low," More and more gathered around as Shyren hummed louder. The notes grew faster still, but I didn't halt my song.

"Only hate the road when you're missin' home,"

I noticed a certain annoying skeleton on the fringes of the congregation.

"Only know you love her when you let her go,"

The white attacks were whizzing past me at high speeds now. One nicked my soul just a bit. I flinched back, but knew I had to finish.

"and you let her go."

I ended with an air of finality, and the monsters around roared their approval. Shyren smiled confidently, and the Fight ended. The monsters trickled away.

"That was amazing Allie!"

Frisk bounded up as Shyren drifted off, humming to herself.

I glanced at the place I had seen Sans standing only moments ago, but he obviously had left in a hurry.

"Here."

Frisk shoved a Cinnamon bun in my hand.

"Eat."

I protested, trying to tell Frisk that supplies were low and that we should save it. But they insisted. The yummy treat was so delicious, and my soul was fully healed.

The room was now empty, and quiet. There were two paths, to the north and east.

"Let's go up first."

It was a smallish room, with a single sign and a blue grand piano.

"Puzzle?"

"Puzzle."

Frisk read the sign,

"A haunting song echoes down the corridor. Won't you play along. The first eight are fine. First eight what?"

I shrugged.

"Notes I guess. Do you hear a song?"

We paused, ears pricked. But there wasn't a sound to be heard.

"Maybe the answer is in the east hall?"

I nodded.

"Probably."

I wondered again who made all these puzzles. Undyne? Maybe Shyren? Possibly. She had liked music.

More signs lined the corridor, telling us information we had already learned, about Boss monsters.

The interesting thing about the next room was, in fact, the lack of signs. A lonely looking statue was being pelted by rain. It's head was down, and it looked mournful. My heart jerked at the sight of it. Frisk must have felt the same way because they said in a small voice,

"We need to help it."

Now pause for a second. Take in the scene. Two humans staring at a stone monster, feeling guilty and nostalgic. It sounded ludicrous. How could someone possibly help a non living, solid, stone creature?

But it went deeper than that. It wasn't the statue we felt for. It was what it represented. Monster-kind. The people humans had trapped under a mountain without a second thought. I felt a wave of guilt crash over me.

I couldn't bear it a second longer.

I took Frisk's hand and walked on.

"Allie?"

"Don't worry. It'll be fine, I promise."

A dangerous promise, but one I intended to keep. Maybe I was being selfish, trading the life of many for one. But Frisk dying was not an option.

"Allie. I want to help them."

"I do too, but you are my first priority."

They didn't reply, just let go of my hand and darted ahead.

"Unbrellas!"

They grabbed a salmon colored one and hastened back to the statue. As they placed it into the cold stone hands, a music box started playing.

It was the musical embodiment of all the emotions I had gotten looking at the statue. It played over and over, in an endless, rolling cycle as we gazed at the statue.

"Allie! I've got it!"

Frisk's voice pulled me out of my stupor. I wiped a tear off my cheek that had slipped out of my wet eyes.

"The song! The puzzle!"

It clicked in my mind as well.

The notes were simple as I sat at the cold piano. After eight notes, a door slid open, heading north.

"Yes!"

I shouted happily.

Frisk gave me a high five.

"I knew piano lessons would come in handy."

They grinned.

The northern room was even smaller than the last, with a white pedestal, and red artifact. I wanted to grab it, but my backpack had suddenly become much heavier, like someone had dumped some rocks into it without my knowledge.

I set it down, and knelt to open it. As soon as the zipper was open, a small, fluffy dog leaped out. It headed straight for the artifact, absorbed it, and was gone, in a matter of seconds.

I stood frozen on the spot, utterly gobsmacked.

Frisk burst into laughter, breathlessly gasping,

"Your face. I couldn't help it."

That's all they managed to get out before continuing to laugh. I was truly annoyed with that dog.

After Frisk managed to gain control, they smiled at me.

"It reminds me of the day we met."

I nodded, a wistful, lopsided grin on my face.

"Whether accident or fate, I'm glad it happened."

"Even after all this?"

Frisk made gesture around, implying the whole of the Underground.

"Especially after this." I said firmly. They looked at the ground, expression unreadable. I continued,

"Remember Toriel and Paps, even Sans, and all the rest of the lovely monsters we've met. This isn't some tragic story. We can help these monsters, I'm sure of it."

Frisk whispered something so softly I hardly caught it.

"They need my soul. They can't leave without it."

It was so hard to remember that they were only ten. So young, yet so strong. But it was moments like these when you were reminded.

I pulled them into a fierce hug.

"I'm telling you that they aren't getting your soul." Holding their small form filled me with purpose and courage. Like hell Undyne was going to even touch Frisk, at least not unless I was a cold, stiff corpse.

*The distant sound of a music box keep you determined*

 **Oh Lordy this was so short. Sorry folks I did warn you. I went to a high school wide back to school retreat and it was so fun and so exhausting, but I didn't have time for writing. Then we had a volleyball game, right afterwards. (If you were curious, we stomped them easily) BUT! BUUUT! Here we are. A new chapter though short.**

 **Love y'all!**

 **Sparklefairy**


	9. Chapter 9

**AHAHAH! Take that world! Here is an absolutely action packed chapter that actually brings the plot along. Tips, constructive criticism (no hate please. It hurts my poor heart) and other such reviews ALWAYS WELCOME. MK and Frisk are the cutest 3 3**

 **Much love, lots of hugs,**

 **Sparklefairy**

It was raining in the next room. Like so many other things in the Underground, I had to pause a second and take it in. Frisk dashed back to get two umbrellas.

"I grabbed you an orange one."

They grinned, pleased with themself.

We met MK, huddled in one corner, drenched.

"Yo! You can hold umbrellas? Great! Let's go!"

Frisk and MK (mostly MK) chatted on about the awesomeness of Undyne while I did some hardcore thinking.

About what? Good question. So much had happened since we stepped through the Ruin doors, and I can scare remember it all. One thing did pop up on my mind though. Flowey the flower with his unsettling talk of "changing the game". This had left me with a multitude of unanswered questions. What game? Why would he think I changed the 'game' of all people? He had said something about me not knowing what I assume to be a vital peice of information. And this made it interesting? I felt like I was missing something obvious, something right in front of my face.

I glanced at Frisk, who was smiling patiently at MK. I tried to shake the unnerving encounter with Flowey the weed from my mind. I instead thought of Sans.

He had told me, during his long excuse for looking at the deepest corners of my soul without permission, that I intrigued him.

Why? What did I have that the other orange souled human didn't? More unanswerable questions.

"Woah! Allie look at that!"

We had walked to where we could see Asgore's castle in the distance. I'll admit, it was a breathtaking sight. The glowing gems on the roof sparked overhead, giving the huge building in the distance a surreal look. We paused our journey to take it in.

The next room proved to be a bit of a challenge. It was a tall, sheer ledge. Sometimes, being short really does put one at a disadvantage. I was small and Frisk was smaller, MK being smallest.

We put our umbrellas up and pondered the problem.

MK suddenly spoke up.

"Yo! You want to see Undyne, right?"

I didn't say anything but Frisk nodded agreeably.

"Here climb on my back."

We thanked MK profusely until he blushed.

Once on top, we looked down at him.

Frisk called,

"What about you?"

"Don't worry, I always find a way through."

That he did. Poor thing tripped again, but scampered happily away, carefree.

I grinned at Frisk.

"So, make a new friend?"

They grinned shyly at the floor in a manner I had never see before. I thought I even detected some blushing.

"Frisk?"

They just nodded and walked on, now defiantly turning red.

"Oh" I called in a singsong way.

"I get it."

They groaned and whined.

"Allie..."

"No no no!" I smirked triumphantly.

"This is your first crush. It's very important."

They mumbled something under their breath that I couldn't make out. I shook my head, still smirking. We headed on in silence. Soon we reached a bridge, over a dark expanse of nothingness that put me on edge for some reason. I felt twitchy and nervous as soon as I stepped on. I tried to pin point the feeling as we walked. What had changed? I stopped as I realized what it was. The music box. I could hear it anymore. Frisk had stopped too, but for a different reason.

"What's that?"

A blue spot had appeared on the bridge directly ahead of us. Another materialized on our left. Then on our right. More followed in quick cessation, closing off all exits.

"Frisk, get ready to run."

Without warning, the blue spears shot up from the points all around us, but faded immediately afterwards. Those spears were familiar.

Undyne.

More of the blue spots appeared in a quite random fashion. We took off sprinting, dodging the blue circles of death.

The path split off, turning into a maze of random left and right turns and dead ends. I had no idea where we should head. I was just trying to stay alive. I skidded to a stop right in front of a point and let the spear strike then fade.

"Just take it slow! We don't have to run mindlessly thorough."

Frisk nodded, apparently getting my meaning. More dots appeared, this time underneath us. Time to move. We took a sharp left into another dead end. Dead is how we were going to end if we didn't find someway out of this.

"Right!"

Frisk pointed to were we could both see an extensive platform of the bridge. It was different, and seemed the way to go. We sprinted across, dodging more easily in the open environment. The only path away was much smaller but we ran on. Screeched to halt at the edge of another dead end. I gasped for breath, hands on knees. I couldnt run anymore. Frisk's chest was heaving up and down, but they tugged at my sleeve.

"We can't stay here. The spears stopped, let's go."

I nodded, hitching my bag higher on my shoulders.

But as we walked, a terrifying figure appeared. Undyne. My heart skipped a beat, then two then three as she said in raspily female voice,

"One more soul until we're free." She looked at Frisk, directly. I knew she understood that Frisk was monster kinds ticket to freedom. I screamed in desperation while the armor clad Undyne swiped her hand across the air. Frisk was only a few steps ahead of me but that was enough.

Spears sliced the path clean off, sending me falling down, down, down. I couldn't even see their face. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye.

Dèjá vu. The smell of golden flowers. The pain shooting through my body. The pain in my heart knowing I had failed Frisk. I pried my eyelids open reluctantly. I was soaked in water, covered by petals of the yellow flowers i had obviously landed bodily on. How long had I been out? I squeezed my eyes tight shut, the last image of Frisk facing Undyne burned in my brain. Hopelessness spread over me. Here I was, alive and mostly well. And Frisk...

I had promised them. I had told them I would protect them to my last breath.

"Feeling down?"

My eyes shot open, my heart jolting in my chest. I knew that voice.

A smiling face in a golden flower spoke again.

"I would be too if I had left the only person I cared about in the clutches of a cold blooded human killer intent on seeing their soul ripped from their body."

The flower giggled in a obvious mimic of Frisk's own carefree laugh.

"What a shame."

I clenched my teeth, staggering to my feet. I gripped my back pack, ready to sling it over my shoulder.

I hissed at the flower,

"You told me you were 'changing the game' or what ever the hell you said. Is this what you wanted? Is this it?"

Flower just laughed again, pleasure filling its grating voice.

"No no. I have something special planned for you. I mean," It paused, looking up at the ceiling as if pondering my odds.

"If you ever get your sibling back alive."

I growled in frustration.

"I'm getting Frisk back! If it's the last thing I ever do!"

"It might just be!"

Then the flower was gone, leaving only an echoing laugh and my boiling hatred to fill the room.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel so hopeless anymore. No, what I felt was anger, frustration, and fear to be sure. But also courage and determination.

I threw my pack over my shoulders and waded into the knee deep water. Piles of garbage surrounded me. A roaring waterfall with the occasional bit of trash flowed down to my left. I was alone.

*a feeling of dread hangs over you, but you try to stay determined*

 **Oooo! That was a fun one. Thank you precious people, as always! (Shout out to Our Anime Lives for being epic awesome amazingness)**


	10. Chapter 10

A/ **N: WHOOP! Ten chapters! The big one-O! This means faster updating time, right? Ha! Not a chance. Sorry y'all, you're just gunna have to deal with my crap. Anywaaaays, HERES THE SHORT CHAPTER!**

I sloshed through the calf deep water, piles of trash heaped on either side. Flowey's ominous words still pounded around my skull, but I tried to ignore it and keep walking. An old bike honked pitifully as I trudged by, as if pleading with me. There was so much garbage around that someone could probably find some useful stuff if they look close enough. Like that cooler over there, clean looking, with nothing else on top of it. I peaked inside and found some perfectly good freeze dried icecream. This could probably heal my soul in a fight, so I shoved two in my pack and continued.

A training dummy stood among the trash, looking bored. I laughed to myself. How could a dummy feel anything? It did remind me of the one in the Ruins that we practiced on, ages ago. I ignored it and kept walking.

"JUST LIKE YOU TO IGNORE ME!"

A shout shattered the silence, and I whipped around to see what had just yelled accusingly at me. The dummy! It was red in the face, looking horridly animated and very intimidating. It plunged into the water and came up to hover just in front of me.

"I'm a ghost that lives inside a dummy! My cousin used to live in a dummy until YOU came along."

Of course it had to be a ghost. Couldn't even hurt it if I tried.

"...THE THINGS YOU SAID! HORRIBLE. SHOCKING. AWEFUL."

"Please, I don't want to fight you! My sibling, they're in grave danger and all I want to do is find them."

"HA! You didn't give a FIG about my cousin! HUMAN! ILL TEAR YOUR SOUL FROM YOUR BODY!"

Crap.

My soul was pulled out, and the fight began. But this time, Frisk wasn't behind me. They were ahead.

I steeled myself for the first attack. It came from behind, as several small dummy's popped up and shot magic attacks at me. It was actually a simple matter of locating the dummies and dodging. Mad Dummy, as I am now dubbing him because one, he's obviously very angry at me and two, he's a bit off his rocker, took damage from his own magic attacks. I tried this time to get in front of Mad Dummy, then dive out of the way.

It worked like a charm. He fell for it everytime, and got more and more annoyed with his small minions. Finally he snapped.

"DUMMIES!"

All of his smaller people appeared around me. They surrounded me and it was just a matter of all shooting at once to kill me instantly.

Instead, they all got fired.

"YOURE TERRIBLE! YOURE ALL BEING REPLACED!"

They disappeared mournfully. I couldn't imagine I would be very happy getting fired from my job either. I heard fient mechanical whirring, and guessed that Mad Dunny wasn't finished.

"Hahaha! Now you'll see my true power! Relying on people that aren't garbage!"

That was a little harsh.

The first rockets came shooting through and I tried the same tactic from earlier, just throwing myself out of the way. The rockets followed me. I just managed to twist out of this way, as they finally swung away. They just missed Mad Dummy. This was going to be harder than I thought. The rockets came in twenties and thirties, raining down. Some just barely clipped my soul when I was too slow, but they hurt like everything, and I was forced to eat some of that Astronaut food I found earlier. It wasn't half bad, and it did the job well. I watched as Mad Dummy quickly deteriorated into a raving mess. He dismissed his rocket assistants grumbling that they were

"worst than the last guys!"

Then he proceeded to laugh like a maniac.

"haha. HAhA. HAHAHA! WHO NEEDS FRIENDS? WHO NEEDS FRIENDS WHEN YOU HAVE KNIVES!"

This guy...

A long sharp blade sailed out of no where, and I dived to the side, rolling, and came to my feet, poised and ready to dodge again.

"I'm...out of knives."

Thank the good lord.

"BUT THAT DOESNT MATTER! YOU CANT BEAT ME AND I CANT BEAT YOU! YOU BE STUCK FIGHTING ME. forever. Forever! FOREVER. AHHAHAHA!"

He was nuts. He really was. We could stand here for centuries and I would have zero ways to escape. Lovely. But my salvation came, in the form of ludicrous amounts of tears from the one and only, Nabstablook.

"oh...hi allie."

"Hey Blooky! Am I glad to see you!"

"sorry..."

i gave him a patient smile. After spending time with him in the Ruins, I knew how Nabstablook was. He led me out of the garbage dump and Into a peaceful area. Lots of paths exited, but Blooky floated up to the middle fork and told me his house was up there. I weighed my options.

On one hand I could go with Nabstablook and spend sometime catching up...

or I could search for my sibling who I abandoned and failed at their most desperate time of need. Hm.

"Hey Blooky, where's Undyne's place?"

"over to the left. she gets so many visitors and I get none."

I felt bad as I waved goodbye to the ghost who had managed to cry my situation away. But Frisk was in mortal peril, so I couldn't feel too guilty. I strode over to the left and faced the house. It looked like an angry fish, with gills, scales and sharp teeth. Before I could doubt myself even more, I knocked. After a couple of seconds, a red splattered Undyne appeared. Her mask was gone, and I could see why her house looked the way it did. It looked like her. Why was she covered in red?

"Where the hell is my sibling?"

Undyne raised an eyebrow and back away from the door way to give me room.

"Nice to meet you too. Do come in."

But I stood rigid, refusing to move.

"Where is Frisk?"

"The kid is fine, punk. Now come in."

The last statement was in a firm tone, obviously coming from someone who was a leader.

I stepped inside. My first observation was the smell of tomatoes. The same red that covered Undyne covered the far wall. I didn't have time to look anymore because a small body slammed into me at high speed, and knocked the breath out of me.

"Allie!"

It was Frisk. Lovely, caring Frisk, right here in front of me, and most importantly still breathing.

"Told ya punk. Frisk is fine."

Undyne moved past me, and headed into the kitchen.

"We've been making spaghetti! That's the sauce!"

They pointed to the wall covered in tomato paste. But I was still playing catch up.

"How Frisk? I thought you were dead. I thought Undyne had ripped your soul out. I thought-"

I choked back tears.

Frisk hugged me tight and tried to comfort me.

"Undyne is actually really cool, and she and Paps are best friends. He said that she couldn't make friends with me and so she's proving him wrong. I think she actually like me though."

Frisk trailed off and looked over to where Undyne was scraping tomato bits into a bowl.

"We were actually finishing up the spaghetti noddles if you want to help?"

I nodded, dashing the tears out of my eyes. In this world, it's best to keep moving forward and not to dwell too much on the past. If you don't, you might just go crazy, or mad or worse.

So, for better or worse, I had a sudden change in plan. Instead of fighting Undyne in order to stop or avenge my siblings untimely death, I was cooking with her.

Nothing could possibly go wrong here.

*Allie still being alive and finding you fills you with determination*

 **Thank you so much! I really hate to beg for reviews, so I'm not gonna...JK I'm pathetic, you all know that! Review if you loved it and want to see more. Review if you want to critic it and want to see some change. Review if you hated it and never want to see it, or any of my writing again. I LOVE IT ALL! Bring it on haters. Bring. it. on.**

 **Love,**

 **Sparklefairy**


	11. Chapter 11

**COOKING WITH UNDYNE TIME, bonus: some pranking of a certain skeleton ;) This one is a bit (I mean like 300 words) longer, so here you are.**

"You ready punk?!"

Undyne looked intently at me, fists held ready like she was gonna pound me. I didn't want to back down, but I also didn't fancy a beating.

"As I'll ever be."

She nodded, as if this was the correct answer, and grabbed my forearm. Grinning like a maniac, and buzzing with excitement. Frisk was excited too, obviously having enjoyed making the sauce. Here goes nothing.

"Throw the spaghetti in the pot!"

Undyne dragged out a huge cooking pot while Frisk pointed to the cabinet that help boxes and boxes of spaghetti noodles. I reached on tiptoes (Undyne is way taller than both Frisk and I) and grabbed a box.

I called over my shoulder,

"One or two boxes?"

"Three!"

I raised an eyebrow at the sheer mass of pasta we were planning on making, but shrugged mentally. That didn't stop me from giving them a hard time.

"Three! Impastable!"

Undyne groaned good naturedly and Frisk giggled, shaking their head. I grabbed two more boxes and passed them down.

"Right. What temperature does the box say to cook the noodles at?"

Undyne roared with laughter, seemingly at my question.

"What?"

"That's not how you cook spaghetti Frisk's sister!"

"Allie."

Undyne shrugged, dumping boxes of pasta into the pot, not even bothering to take the pasta out of the packaging. Frisk got something to stir. I stood, hands on hips, eyebrows scrunched. They weren't even adding water...

"Come on Allie! Aren't you going to help?"

"But-"

Undyne grabbed my shoulder and pulled me over to the pot.

"Alright punk. You stir and we'll turn up the heat."

I decided I would just go with it. The spaghetti would be inedible but I figured this was more for the act of cooking then the act of eating. At least Frisk was having fun.

I stirred the raw pasta and the cardboard boxes slowly. They were bumping around loudly.

"You're gonna have to stir faster than that, punk. A Whimsum could stir faster."

I frowned. I took that jab as a personal challenge.

"Fine then." I replied shortly.

Gritting my teeth, I picked up the pace.

"Right! Now! Frisk, turn up the heat. The hotter the better."

They turned the knob to the highest setting.

"Still not hot enough!"

Needless to say, Undyne's stovetop went hotter than the 'highest' setting. Actual flames licked the pot. I had to stand an arm's length away to keep from getting third-degree burns.

At that moment several things happened. First off, I realized that the flames had grown out of control, and the pasta and cardboard boxes were aflame. Next, Frisk stumbled away from the stove and into me, still clutching the spoon I had been using to stir. They knocked into me and I, in turn, knocked into Undyne. She shoved me away from her and into the pot with it burning contents.

"Ow!"

The pot came crashing down, spilling fiery pasta everywhere. I was peppered with it.

"Ow OW!"

I scrambled to me feet, brushing burning bits off my one good flannel shirt. But the damage had been done. The fire licked eagerly at the house's interior.

"We gotta get out of here!"

Undyne nodded, and Frisk found me and clutched my hand.

We stumbled into the fresher air, coughing. Smoke followed us, and at the addition of more oxygen the flames flared brighter.

"Oops."

Undyne sighed.

"No wonder Papyrus is a bad cook. Well..."

She looked at Frisk and I, waiting for a reaction to the situation.

Frisk was aghast.

"I'm so sorry Undyne! This is all my fault... I should have- should have-"

Undyne stopped them.

"You're starting to sound like Alphys, punk. It's okay." At our disbelieving looks she continued.

"It really is! You wouldn't believe some of the accidents that have happened. Like this one time Paps Alphys and I- well I really should save that story for later."

We stood for a moment, uncertain of the next plan of action.

"Can I speak to your sister alone for a sec, Frisk?"

They nodded and scampered off. I watched them go, calling,

"Don't get out of my sight!"

Then I turned to face Undyne.

She studied me for a second, then came to a decision.

"That kid is stronger than you give them credit for."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that you won't give them a chance to fight, a chance to prove themself."

I frowned.

"We don't want to fight anyone. My one and only goal is to get Frisk out alive."

"That's besides the point."

I grit my teeth, shaking my head.

"No. That's the only point. Not to mention that you are the one doing most of the fighting against us."

Undyne scoffed.

"Not anymore! That's what I'm saying! Frisk defeated me without even swinging a weapon, without your help. They made friends with me. Never in a million years did I think that was possible!"

"That doesn't mean I'm going to put them in danger willingly! Not when I'm around!"

My hands were on my hips, my hair frizzy, in disarray, burn marks dotting my clothes, mouth pressed in a thin line. Undyne looked me up and down, then laughed. She clapped a hand on my shoulder, still laughing.

"I like you, punk! You're feisty! You and your sibling are like, complete opposites!"

I couldn't help the small grin that broke out on my face.

"Yeah...kinda like,"

My grin turned to a smirk,

"you and Alphys, huh?"

"What!? Who told you about that?"

"You just did."

She growled at me, her cheeks lightly blushing.

Guess I guessed right.

"You humans are very cheeky."

I winked at her. She rolled her eyes, and tried to plot revenge.

"Just you wait till I find out who you're crushing on."

I promised myself to never tell her anything.

"Well punk, now that we're friends, I'd better get to Paps', you and the kid better get going. Just remember, there may come a day when you'll have to let Frisk go."

We said our goodbyes, and went on our way.

As we walked, we got to enjoy Waterfall a lot more then when Undyne was chasing us. All too soon, the relative coolness of Waterfall was fading away. A huge electronic sign spelled out "WELCOME TO HOTLAND!"

A heat wave hit us and made my hair blow back. I took my flannel shirt off, leaving just the tank underneath.

"Frisk, do you want to put your sweater in my backpack? It's really hot."

"No, I'm good."

Frisk was always less of a wuss when it came to heat. The first thing I noticed was the sentry station. And the skeleton asleep inside.

As we approached, he didn't wake.

"Huh," I remarked,

"A heavy sleeper. Who knows what he could miss while he was dead to the world?"

Frisk grinned at me.

"Are you saying...that we're gonna-?"

"Prank the prankster? Yes. You still have that notebook you got from Gerson?"

We crept quietly behind the station and stuck a sign that said 'I'm a stupid dodo butt' onto the back of his hoodie. We giggled silently.

"Right," I whispered, "Now hand me the marker."

I leaned close to write something equally childish on his face. But as I did so his eyes blinked open. As he registered his surroundings and the close proximity of my face, he started backward.

I also stumbled backward, then tripped and fell on my butt.

Sans face smirked down from his position above me. He obviously had gotten over his small shock. Unlike me.

"i'm not Sleeping Beauty, ya know?"

"W-what?" The implications of his statement suddenly shot through my mind. My face turned a horrible shade of red. "No!"

Frisk was laughing, unable (or unwilling) to come to my rescue.

"no you don't know?"

I heaved myself to my feet.

"No!"

"no, what? you're sending mixed signals."

I glared at him. Now that I was on my feet, I had the advantage of height. That is, until he eventually stands.

"We were trying to prank you..."

"ah. and you didn't succeed?"

Frisk chose that moment to pipe up.

"Actually-!"

I shot them a look and they shut their mouth with an audible 'clomp'.

Sans tried to prompt them.

"actually what, bud?"

"Nothing." I said too quickly.

Sans raised an eyebrow.

"maybe you need some lessons in pranks."

"I could prank you any day without your help."

"Really?"

His voice oozed sarcastic smugness.

"Really. Come on Frisk."

I walked to the bridge over hot magma and had second thoughts. Should I really risk walking over this kind of death trap. Then I laughed internally. How ironic would that be? To come so far then fall into lava. I walked across. When we reached the other side of the bridge, I heard Sans voice yell, "Touché". When I turned back, he was gone. I grinned at Frisk.

"We pranked the prankster."

We knuckle punched.

Then Frisk commented,

"You did look like you were going in for a kiss though..."

I shoved their shoulder.

"Not in a million years."

Unknown to me, Frisk was thinking that that was what Undyne had said about human friends.

*The possibility of your OTP becoming canon keeps you determined*

 **Hey y'all! Shout out to all of my lovely reviewers! I love you guys! Just a random question of the day: Do any my wonderful reader do theatre? I'm joining my schools One Act Play crew! We're doing a show called Still Life with Iris! It's pretty rad. Though it does mean I'll have less time for writing. But weekends are my time and I'm thinking I'll be able to start regularly updating every weekend. On another note: Lockwood and Co: The Creeping Shadow is coming out this Tuesday (Sept 13)! I'm super hyped! I got the third book the day it came out as well and couldn't put it down! No spoilers! Thank y'all again!**

 **Much love,**

 **Sparklefairy**


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